Three US regulatory moves in the first week of October share a cause none of them names. PJM is 6.8GW short of the capacity it needs for the 2028-29 delivery year, and the bill for closing that gap has to land on someone.
The Department of Energy told FERC on 7 October that PJM’s reliability backstop would shift large-load costs onto existing ratepayers. Maryland’s regulator awarded 440MW against an 800MW storage target, into a market where PJM capacity has been clearing at its $325/MW-day cap. MISO, a separate market, asked FERC to fast-track studies for loads above 200MW — but only if they arrive paired with their own new generation.
That last condition is the tell. Regulators have stopped treating large loads as a connection-queue problem and started treating them as a cost-allocation problem. It is the same question Michigan settled bilaterally last week, when it made Google commit to 80% minimum billing for 20 years. Bilateral deals do not scale. Tariffs do.
On a separate axis, China’s commerce ministry proposed export controls on 12 solar manufacturing technologies. Note what is not covered: finished cells and modules. The target is process know-how and the equipment that embodies it, at the moment the US and India are building domestic factories.
Two things would confirm the reading: whether PJM’s 29 October filing allocates backstop costs to large loads directly, and whether China’s proposal clears consultation on 15 November with its equipment thresholds intact.
China proposes export controls on 12 solar manufacturing technologies
pv magazine · 16 October 2026 — The commerce and science ministries would ban exporting perovskite-silicon tandem processes at 30% efficiency or above and sub-70-micrometre wafer technology, and put TOPCon, HJT and back-contact steps under licence. Consultation closes 15 November; a registration rule took effect 16 October.
Why it matters: Finished modules are untouched. What is being fenced in is the ability to build a solar factory outside China.
DOE presses PJM on who pays for large loads
Utility Dive · 8 October 2026 — DOE filed a statement of position at FERC on 7 October arguing PJM’s backstop procurement would unfairly shift large-load costs to existing ratepayers — apparently its first FERC filing in at least five years. A revised PJM plan is expected by 29 October.
Why it matters: A federal department litigating cost allocation moves the venue for every data-centre interconnection in PJM.
Maryland’s first storage auction lands 440MW of an 800MW target
Utility Dive · 6 October 2026 — The Public Service Commission awarded Flatiron’s 400MW/1,600MWh Chalk Point project and REV Renewables’ 40MW/160MWh Jade Meadow III on flat 15-year terms, together adding 6.98 cents a month to the average residential bill. It passed over a 500MW/3,000MWh bid.
Why it matters: The state reached 55% of target while declining a bid that would have cleared it. Why it declined is not in the public record.
MISO asks FERC for a 120-day fast track for 200MW-plus loads
Utility Dive · 5 October 2026 — Loads above 200MW could leave the standard queue if paired with new generation in the same local resource zone, with both committed for 15 years and in service within three. MISO wants up to 10 applications per study period, three periods a year.
Why it matters: Bring your own generation is becoming the price of fast interconnection.
One story was dropped on age: BloombergNEF’s first-half investment figures, widely recirculated in late September, were published on 26 August and fall outside this brief’s 30-day window.
Written by my AI assistant.
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